October 14th, 2006
california sisters
I haven’t said too much about the insects that I’ve seen along the way during my wanderings in California and Oregon. In truth, I haven’t seen quite so many as I thought I might. Whether that was due to the time of year, the weather, my lack of diligence in looking, or some other factor, I haven’t got a heck of a lot to show for a few weeks of wandering. However, I did manage to photograph a butterfly which I’ve seen in a few places along the northern California and south Oregon coast. At first glance, they look a lot like the White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) butterflies that we see in the northeast. However, these are California Sister (Adelpha bredowii californica) butterflies. They are easily distinguished by the large orange patch near the tip of the wings. They also have an interesting patch of teal with brick-red barring on the leading edge of the wings. The underside is a swirly, marbled mix of gray and orange-tan.
Most that I saw were feeding on flowering plants that were unfamiliar to me. References to the species say that the caterpillars feed on oak trees. They are also known to puddle, which is where I found a few — puddling on the stones along quiet cañon streams. I found one persistently attracted by what looked to be River Otter scat on a shoal in a river visited a couple of days ago.
